Mark Strong says Daniel Craig is probably done playing Bond

Although Daniel Craig is contracted for one more James Bond flick, there's a good chance that he won't be returning for the next entry in the 007 series. Speculation of the actor's departure from the franchise began before the release of SPECTRE, when Craig replied "I don’t know, I really don’t know. Honestly. I’m not trying to be coy. At the moment I can’t even conceive it," after being asked if he will be back for another Bond outing, however last month a source told The Mirror that “Daniel has been a huge success as 007 and is loved by fans so he isn’t going anywhere yet."

But during a conversation with Shortlist, Mark Strong, who happens to be close friends with Craig and is the godfather to his oldest son, said he believes the actor is done playing the British secret agent.

Do you know what, I’d have loved to have played the villain in a Bond movie while Daniel was doing it because he’s a pal and that would have been great. But I think he’s come to the end of his Bond time and so it’s probably never going to happen, but that would have always been great.

Strong said he will try to convince his buddy to play Bond one more time, but noted that "there are powers at work greater than us who make all these decisions,” before going on to say “He has been [wonderful] and he’s loved it. But I think he feels like he’s mined it. He’s done what he wants with it. That point has come.”

If true, this probably means that Christoph Waltz also won't be returning for the next installment, but first we'll have to wait and see if Craig has actually made up his mind about playing Bond again.

It was recently announced that Craig has signed on to star in a limited series adaptation of Jonathan Franzen's Purity from LITTLE CHILDREN director Todd Field, while Strong can be seen next on the big screen starring alongside Sacha Baron Cohen in THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY, which is due out on March 11, 2016.